Mostly ITP

Mostly ITP

Amber and Rusty podcast about whatever strikes their fancy, which generally are things and issues inside Atlanta's perimeter.

Hosts: Amber Rhea, Rusty Tanton

Channel: Society & Culture » Personal Journals

May contain content only suitable for adults

Video - My Great Aunt Jane remembers the Winecoff Hotel Fire

by Rusty Tanton, January 22, 2009 - 6:55am

Show notes

I've been trying to make good on a goal I set more than a year ago to record more family history. My mom and I went to visit my Great Aunt Jane this past Saturday to shoot video of her telling stories about her life. We knew she had been a nurse, but we didn't know until Saturday she had been a night supervisor at Grady Hospital in Atlanta on December 7, 1946, the night of the Winecoff Hotel Fire.

The Winecoff Hotel Fire was the worst in history at the time, and remains the worst in U.S. history, with 119 fatalities. In this video, she recalls her experience working in the morgue.

More information about the Winecoff Hotel Fire:

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This file was played in a web browser 577 times and downloaded 750 times when statistics were kept between May 12, 2008 and October 4, 2009.

Tags: Atlanta, Ellis Hotel, family, family history, fire, fires, Grady Hospital, history, video, videos, Winecoff Hotel, Winecoff Hotel Fire

Thomas's picture
Thomas

When I moved to Atlanta in 1995, my first job was at Andersen Consulting in the Georgia-Pacific Building on Peachtree. Across the street from the GP Building is the historical marker for the Winecoff Hotel and the fire that devastated it. I would see that sign every day and would wonder just what it was like on that evening in 1946. Thanks to this recording, I know far more than I did and from a first-hand witness.

Thank you.

Posted on January 22, 2009 - 9:58am

gvonk's picture
gvonk

Rusty- This is a great interview. I, too, work across the street from the site of the Winecoff Hotel. After seeing a link to this video on your blog, I took a few minutes to check out the historical marker and then I came back and watched the podcast. It sounds cheesy, but it's great to be able to tie all this stuff together--friends, family, the internet, and the community where we live and work.

Sidenote: I tried to play (or download) the video via your blog and here on GAPN and was unable to do so until I logged in. I don't know if this is by design or if you have a permissions issue, but you might want to test it. Or maybe I just had a bad cookie or something.

Posted on February 10, 2009 - 1:21pm

Rusty Tanton's picture
Rusty Tanton

Thanks for the comment Garrett (and Thomas)!

Also, thanks Garrett for pointing out the issue with anonymous players not working. We've been having CPU usage issues with our current host and I'd installed some caching that apparently isn't working properly. The solution may be a new web host. :P

Posted on February 10, 2009 - 2:01pm

jim3nyc's picture
jim3nyc

What an AMAZING interview! Many thanks to you and Great Aunt Jane.

Posted on February 17, 2009 - 8:31pm